


Your Lips Are Sealed

by apocalypticTaurus



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Blood, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Dream Bubbles, F/F, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Terrible Attempt At Fanfiction, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-17
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-11-29 15:41:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/688633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apocalypticTaurus/pseuds/apocalypticTaurus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You had formulated your plan flawlessly. It was foolproof in all of its aspects. Every item on your list was in your possession. Needles, thread, a few accomplices, you had it all. Now all you had to do was act."</p><p>Basically, what you need to know is in this AU ghosts are still half-alive. They can bleed, they can feel pain, and they can be killed (again). It is somewhat like in the comic, but the catch is anyone can kill them, not just lord English.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, what you need to know is in this AU ghosts are still half-alive. They can bleed, they can feel pain, and they can be killed (again). It is somewhat like in the comic, but the catch is anyone can kill them, not just lord English.

~Kurloz~

You had formulated your plan flawlessly. It was foolproof in all of its aspects. Every item on your list was in your possession. Needles, thread, a few accomplices, you had it all. Now all you had to do was act.

~Kankri~

You walked through the dream bubbles, hardly paying any attention to your changing surroundings as you made the same walk you made every evening back to your hive. As you entered the part of the bubbles full of alleyways and tall buildings you pulled up your guard. The dark pathways were only lit by a few dim streetlights.  
Shadows filled your peripheral vision, forming shapes that looked like other trolls, following you. Every time you turned to face your stalkers the shadows would disappear, revealing that you were alone. Paranoia set in and you sped up your steps as the shadows drew closer. 

A few blocks away from the exit out of the dreadful area you heard a distressed voice calling for help. You stopped in your tracks as the call rang out, echoing through the alleys, because of who the voice’s owner was. The voice you would recognize anywhere as you old flushed crush, Latula.  
You ran toward the sound as the cries grew louder and more desperate. You ears lead you to a dead end. Baffled, you stared at the wall, sounds ringing from above you. Immediately, you knew you had been tricked. You turned around to make your way out of the maze of alleyways and reach your hive, where you could meet up with your matesprit and forget about the day, but you were stopped by four figures suddenly standing in front of you. 

Kurloz stepped forward into the glow of the single wall light above your head. He pointed to the two figures behind him on his right and Meenah and Latula slowly approached you. They came forward and pinned your arms and legs to the cold, hard, stone wall. Again, Kurloz motioned to the figure behind him, this time to the one on his left.

Faster than light, Damara moved, forcing her foot into your stomach, knocking all of the oxygen from body and making you go dizzy. She then slammed her elbow into to your forehead, cracking your skull against the concrete.  
Pain surged through your body and you cried out only to have it muffled by a gloved hand. Kurloz looked down at you, for his height was far greater than you, closed his eyes and shook the index finger on his left hand. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a needle threaded with black string, identical to the one sealing his own lips shut.

You then knew what these four trolls you once called your friends, had set out to out accomplish. You shook your head as best you could, pleading with them, cherry red tears streaming down your cheeks.

“Come on. Don’t be a Kank-crybaby.” Latula’s voice whispered in your ear.

“Yeah,” Meenah laughed, “Clam down. We ain’t doin’ nofin to you yet.”

Damara just glared at you and took a long drag off her cigarette before leaning in close and blowing all the smoke in your face. You let out a cough just as Kurloz removed his hand from your mouth. He placed the needle close to your face, so close it was touching your lips, and moved it from the far right corner of your mouth to the far left in an indecisive manner, deciding where to make the first puncture.  
He moved it for about a minute before Latula got impatient.

“Just hurry up and chose already.” She whined in a bored way. After the words left her lips Kurloz only made a few more switches before finally picking the right. As soon as he stopped the back and forth movement of his hand, he pushed hard, stabbing the needle into the flesh just above your lip.

You tasted both the red of your blood as it pooled in your mouth with every new hole, and the red of your tears as they streamed down your face, stinging the open wounds on your expression. The pain was unbearable and you wanted to scream, but with each new thread your cries grew quieter and quieter, eventually to only be heard by the two girls laughing at your pain, the woman standing off to the side, watching in amusement as you suffered, and the man in front of you, sewing up your lips and causing you all of this pain.


	2. Chapter 2

~Kurloz~  
Meenah and Latula’s laughter mixed together, filling the air. With each new stich it grew louder and louder and Kankri’s cries grew quieter and quieter. You wished you could laugh with them, join in the fun, but you could only smile. You smile that wicked smile which probably made the experience all the worse for him and all the better for you.

As you pulled the needle and thread through one last time, sealing his lips shut, your smile broadened, as much as it could without causing your sewn lips pain, to a smile meaning a job well done. You look at Meenah and then Latula who both quiet down and nod, releasing their grip on the small troll in front of you. He crumpled to the ground in a mess of red from his sweater, blood, and tears, and the only movement from him is the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

You turn around and walk away through the alleys followed by the three women who had eagerly agreed to help you accomplish what you had wanted to do for a while. You had planned it perfectly and preformed it flawlessly. No one knew what you four had done, but him and he would not be speaking up for a while. 

Temporarily, you shut up that talkative boy and soon you would devise a way to make him permanently silent. For now, though, you wouldn’t bother yourself with trying to create a lasting fix, you would only smile and bask in the glory of a success, making your way out of the alleyways, listening to your echoing footsteps. Your last thought, the one that made you happiest, was how angry his moirail would be.

~Cronus~  
You frantically ran through the path he always took home looking for your matesprit. He was supposed to meet you at his hive so you could finally spend some time with him and he hadn’t shown his face yet. It was unlike him to be five minutes late for anything, but he hadn’t been gone for five minutes, he had been gone for five hours. 

Already you had contacted his moirail, Porrim, but she hadn’t seen him. She freaked out when you told her he wasn’t with you. Quickly, she told you to go along the path he takes to his hive and she would ask around to see in anyone had heard from him. Neither of you had had any luck.

You had been searching for an hour already. You were overtaken by worry as you weaved your way in and out of the dark alleys, desperately hoping to see the color you had come to love. When you finally saw it your heart sank because the situation he was in looked terrible.

You had finally caught sight of him at the end of the longest passage in the whole area. You were about to pass him by when you captured a glimpse of that bright red. He was lying sprawled out on his stomach, head facing the wall in front of you. He was also very still, his breathes so small they were almost non-existent. You slowly stepped toward him; one had stretched out in front of you, orchid tears stinging your eyes.

“K-K-Kan?” you said quietly as you knelt beside him. He didn’t respond so you placed a hand on his right shoulder and flipped him so he was facing you. When you saw his face you recoiled and yelled in shock. His cheeks were stained with lines of red tears and both wet and dry blood dripped from his lips which were sewn you with black thread coated in your poor Kankri’s mutant red blood. The needle was still attached and hung from his mouth. You felt like you couldn’t breathe.

Tears streaked your face as you pulled him close to you. He half opened his eyes when you pushed him away so you could cut the strings from his bound lips. You pulled your pocket knife from your shoe and carefully cut each string and ease it from his mouth. You, still crying, looked him in the eyes, studying them as his tears began to reform and fall down his face.

“C-Cro?” He said.

“Kan hun, who did this to you?” You asked.

“Kurloz.” He responded quieter than a whisper. At first, you were surprised at how little he said, then you realized how painful it had to be for him to talk. You registered what he had said. Kurloz had done this to him and that guy needed to be taught a lesson in the form of a fist to the face, but that would have to wait. Right now Kankri needed you to be there for him, to comfort him.

He latched a hand onto your white t-shirt and you pulled him close. Picking him up, you carried him back to his hive and he never let go of you, he only moved closer, burying his head into your chest. His candy red tears left stains on your shirt and you whispered that he would be okay, and was safe now.

Once you reached his hive you sat down on the couch where Kankri fell asleep against you. You put him in his recupracoon so the nightmares he was certainly going to have wouldn’t be so bad. You sat back down on his sofa and contacted Porrim. She would want to know you found him.


	3. Chapter 3

~Porrim~

You were pacing back and forth in your respiteblock when you received the message from Cronus.

_porrim! stop you vworrying, i’wve found him. vwe are in his hiwve. come ovwer because i vwant to talk to you._

Your reply was a short and simple “I’m o+n my way!” typed as you rushed out the door. Your speed came in handy, your feet moving swiftly carrying you to Kankri’s hive in no more than ten minutes. You practically ripped the door off its hinges only to find Cronus sitting on the couch and your moirail nowhere to be found. If he had tricked you, you were prepared to attack.

“Where’s Kanny?” You spit. He only barely looked up from dozing off. He looked stressed and tired and relieved all at the same time.

“Good, you’re here. Don’t worry yourself; Kan’s asleep in his recupracoon. He’s safe, but I need to talk to you, like now, about what happened to Kankri.” He spoke weakly. You were relieved to hear Kankri was alright, but you were worried about what he had been through.

“What happened to my moirail?” You said concerned. He didn’t speak; he just reached into his pocket and tossed a needle and thread in front of you. You picked it up, a bit confused, you thought he wanted to talk, but he simply went back to drifting off. Silently, you inspected it, thinking about how it had to do with anything, but then you saw it; a few streaks of red were on the thread, barely visible.

 _Someone tried to sew up his lips_. It played in your head over and over again. Your first thought was, who would do something like this to Kankri? Sure no one you knew like to hear his lectures, but who would go to these extremes? No one came to mind at first, but when it hit you, it felt like someone placed three tons of bricks on your chest. It was Kurloz. That crummy kismesis of yours.

Of course, though, it had to be him. He had come to your hive earlier and asked for a needle and some thread. After a lot of arguing and a bit of fighting, you finally coughed it up. You had given him the instruments he had used to hurt you poor, sweet Kanny.

You sank to the ground and cried. You were the one who supplied Kurloz with the only supplies he needed to scar your moirail both mentally and physically.

 _Why_ , you thought. _Why would he do this? Was it to get to me? Did my kismesis hurt my moirail to anger me?_ Thoughts like these spun around in your head, especially the last one. It made the most sense. You knew he wouldn’t just go after Kankri to shut him up; that would only be part of it. You knew Kurloz would be the type of kismesis who would do drastic things just to antagonize you, but you never would’ve thought him to go as low as causing your moirail pain.

You wept harder, not just because you had a hand in all of it, but also because of the motives, or at least what you thought the motives were, of the one responsible.  It made you hate him, which is just what he wanted. You hated him for what he had done to Kankri, and you hated yourself more for allowing him to get the hate from you that he desired.

A heavy hand fell on your shoulder and you looked up. A translucent shade of jade green blurred your vision, but you didn’t need to see to know it was Cronus. He knelt next to you as he patted your shoulder. You then knew why he wanted to talk, but didn’t any longer. When you first heard he had found Kankri, you so badly wanted to talk to him, but then, as you sat crying on your moirail’s floor, you didn’t want to say a word.

 


	4. Chapter 4

~Kurloz~

You sat quietly leaning your back on the wall with Mituna against you, unsure whether or not to tell him what you had done a few hours ago. _He wouldn’t be very angry, but he might get upset if he knew Latula helped me,_ you thought. _On the other hand, he is my moirail; I am supposed to tell him things going on in my life and stuff troubling me, though this matter isn’t in the least bit troubling._

You finally resolved to tell him; after all he tells you everything, so you thought you should do the same. To ensure he wouldn’t get too upset you wouldn’t tell him about Latula’s aid in your efforts.

**_MITUNA?_ **

Your voice echoed into his think pan. Your telepathy always came in handy allowing you to communicate with your matesprit and moirail, and occasionally, your kismesis. Hearing your voice in her head always took her by surprise and you loved the frustrated look she would get when the sound wouldn’t leave her.

**_MITUNA, I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING._ **

He looked up at you and you could barely see his white eyes behind his dark hair. He had left his helmet in his hive so his hair was a total mess, not unlike your own, there was a little bit less of it though.

“Yes, Kurloz?” He contently responded.

**_MITUNA, I DID SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED AS “GOOD” BY SOME OTHER TROLLS._ **

“What?” He looked curious now, like he actually wanted to know, which, knowing Mituna, he might’ve.

**_TODAY, I ATEMTED TO AND SUCSEEDED AT SILENCING ONE KANKRI VANTAS._ **

“How?” He sounded almost nervous about asking, unsure if he wanted an answer, the complete opposite of how he was acting three seconds ago. You almost didn’t answer him, but you knew that would be bad. You had started the conversation and you needed to finish it, or at least continue it.

**_I USED A NEEDLE AND THREAD TO STICH UP HIS LIPS._ **

As soon as the thought left your head and entered his, he pulled away from you and stared at you, completely shocked. He also looked sad and scared, like you might try and do it to him or someone else. “But…but why?”

You didn’t know how to answer. Many reasons flew into your head, but none good enough to tell your frightened moirail. Finally you just mashed a few of them together to form comprehendible sentences.

**_I DID IT TO SHUT HIM UP. NO ONE WOULD HAVE TO LISTEN TO HIS STUPID LESSONS AND LECTURES. NO ONE WOULD HAVE TO LISTEN TO HIS RANS. NO ONE WOULD HAVE TO FEAR HIM POINTING OUT THEIR FLAWS. AND THEN THERE WAS THE ADDED BENEFIT OF PISSING OFF HIS MOIRAIL._ **

“But Kankri didn’t do anything to you.” He stood up. You were surprised he was defending Kankri, who he didn’t like much at all. Mituna took a few backwards steps.

**_IT HAD TO BE DONE._ **

“N-No, it didn’t. You didn’t have to hurt Kankri.” He kept backing up, but he did it very slowly like he was still paying attention to your words.

**_THE PAIN HAD TO COME._ **

“No.”

**_HE NEEDED TO BE SILENCED._ **

“I’m going to tell Latula!” He shouted at you before he turned and ran off to tell on you to someone who already knew what you had done. You wanted to call after him and tell him the teal-blood already knew, but you knew it was a matter for he and his matesprit to discuss. Mituna would tell you later what happened between them.


	5. Chapter 5

~Cronus~

You were tired, extremely tired. All you wished you could do was sleep. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. You wished for a few more things, too. You wished you could’ve prevented what happened to Kankri, you wished you could’ve protected him, and you wished more than two trolls, yourself and Porrim, could see him for who he truly was, and would even care if they knew what had happened to him. Still, you waned to get some needed shut eye.

Porrim had insisted you go home to your own hive to get a good rest, but you couldn’t set foot outside of your matesprit’s hive. You had to stay and make sure he was safe, even if at the cost of your own needs. Kankri always came first in your book, so that’s why you were still lying on his couch. Eventually, though, your sleepiness got the better of you and you dozed off only to wake hours later, angrier than ever.

You had dreamed of what happened to Kankri. You watched as if you were there when it happened, but there was nothing you could do about it, your shoes felt glued to the ground. There was nothing you could do as you watched the troll sew up your matesprit’s lips. You watched him sew and you heard Kankri’s cries go quiet. You watched Kankri fall to the ground and Kurloz waltz away with red blood on his gloves and a smirk on his face.

You awoke feeling like you wanted to cry and see a certain landdweller’s blood splattered on the wall. The latter emotion eventually won out and you were filled with hate. Not the hate you felt for your kismesis, but the I-want-to-rip-your-head-from-its-place-on-your-shoulders type of hate. You stood up, punched the wall, almost leaving a hole in it, and sat back down again.

You wanted to talk to someone, but no one was in sight, not even Porrim, so you just sat and quietly talked out your thoughts with yourself. You tried your best to come up with a plan and finally decided to just go after Kurloz yourself.

You jumped up and tan to the door, slamming it open, still filled with rage. You were about to go and find the purple-blood when you heard a quiet two syllables that made you stop in your tracks. They came from behind you in suck a quiet way you barely heard it, but you knew who was speaking as the words met your ears.

“Cronus?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Way longer than the other chapters. Just a warning. The next chapter will also be much longer than the others.

~Porrim~

**_I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT._ **

The terrible sound rang in your head. The highblood was trying to sound innocent, but you knew exactly what he had done. Earlier you had left Kankri’s hive trying to pick a fight with this clown. In order to find him, you went to Meulin. Even though she is his matesprit, she told you anyways because she didn’t want to interfere with your blackrom relationship. She pointed in the direction of a dark forest area of the bubble.

 _Of course he would be there_ , you thought as you walked in, and sure enough, after walking into a small, poorly lit clearing, you heard his annoying voice in your head, you couldn’t see him though. You had to admit, the highblood certainly did hide well.

**_I THINK YOU ARE JUST IMAGINING THINGS._ **

The voice said again.

**_YOU MIGHT JUST BE MAKING IT UP TO GET PEOPLE TO FEEL BAD FOR YOUR “POOR KANNY”._ **

He was mocking you. “You’re lying! Why would I make something like that up and then tell no one about it but my kismesis? Hmm?” _Why would someone do that?_ It made no sense to you.

**_I GUESS YOU HAVE A POINT. AND, ABOUT YOUR FORMER STATEMENT, YEAH, I AM LYING. YOU WERE RIGHT, I DID DO IT._ **

_Something isn’t right._ Your kismesis just admitted to something after denying it for twenty minutes. _What is he up to? Is he trying to-?_

A stick broke behind you causing your train of thought to stop. You got into a defensive stance and held your ground. Kurloz was somewhere in the trees, just beyond your field of vision. Your ears listened for more sounds. The crunching of sticks and leaves met with your ears. Unfortunately, he couldn’t move silently as you could.

The sounds grew louder behind you and you were just about to turn and attack when they stopped. Everything was quiet when you turned around and found you were face to face with your kismesis, Kurloz Makara.

 Even if his place on the hemospectrum was far higher than yours, he was only a slightly taller than you. You stared angrily into his milky white eyes, and he into yours as you both stood, ready to fight. Neither of you knew who would make the first move and when, but you both knew it would happen soon.

You had been standing for maybe five minutes when you heard something coming from your right. Dropping your stare for less than a seconded to see what it was gave him the advantage he needed.

Before you could even see what had caused the noise he had you pinned with your back to the ground. His forearm was over your chest, keeping your upper body down. His left hand was on the ground near your head, supporting the weight of his upper body and his knees were around your hips, keeping him above you.

Kurloz lifted his left hand, putting almost all of his weight on your chest, and removed his glove. He then drug his claws across your arms, drawing a small amount of jade blood. You tried to move your arms and grab him, but he just moved his knees onto your hands. This positioned him much higher above you and you were able to get one of your legs in between yourself and him and push him off.

Both of you quickly go to your feet, but you were faster. When he stood, you bared your fangs and lunged at him. Your rainbow drinker instincts kicked in and you went straight for his neck, not aiming to drink, but to maim. If he was going to get blood from your veins, you were going to get some from his.

He hardly had time to react because the second he was up, you were at his throat; his royal-blood flooded your mouth and covered your face. It tasted bitter, as usual, terrible compared to your lowblood moirail and matesprit.

After a minute, you pulled back from where you were latched onto, and ripping at his neck. He took this to his advantage by grabbing your wrist, turning you around, and pushing you up against the nearest tree. He used his whole body to keep you pinned there with your arm held painfully to your back. Kurloz placed his chin on your left shoulder and used the hand that wasn’t preoccupied with your arm, to lean your head to the right.

**_YOU KNOW WHAT? SINCE YOU GO A TASTE OF MY HIGHBLOOD, THEN I THINK IT IS ONLY FAIR FOR ME TO TASTE YOUR “PEASANT-BLOOD”_ **

You were confused. How was he going to taste your blood when he couldn’t bite you? As soon as the thought ran through your head, his hand fell from your head to your neck and his moved slightly to the right. Two of his cold fingers pressed on your throat until he curved them so his claws scraped your skin. You winced as he stabbed his razor sharp nails into your throat and pulled to rip away your skin. You felt his hand move back making sure it held its position. He pressed his mouth to the wound, but did nothing.

**_SO, HOW DOES IT FEEL?_ **

“What?” you hissed.

**_HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE STABBED IN THE NECK AND ALSO HOW DOES IT FEEL TO KNOW YOU’VE LOST THIS FIGHT?_ **

“I haven’t lost yet!” You smashed your head into his face which caused his grip to weaken enough for you to break free. You tried to do what you did last time, but Kurloz was too fast and instead of hitting him, you landed face first on the ground.  You flipped over and tried to get up, but he was standing over you with a smug look on his face.

**_HAVEN’T LOST? HA! YOU MAKE ME LAUGH, PORRIM. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT AGAINST ME, YOU WILL ALWAYS LOSE?_ **

You were about to protest, when his eyes began to flash. The switched rapidly from white to black to purple and you knew yours were doing the same. Your vision began to blur and your body grew numb. Your normally enhanced senses weakened to the point where they were hardly usable. One by one they cut off. First you could no longer taste the blood in your mouth. Next you couldn’t smell the blood or forest around you. As you lost your sense of touch you felt as though you couldn’t move. You felt numb and limp. Just as your hearing cut out, you a surprised voice came to your ears.

“Oh my God! Porrim! Kurloz, what are-” Rufioh’s voice stopped as did the rest of the sound. All that was left was your sight. You saw the blurred image of a terrible troll towering above you and a flash of muddy orange before both your vision and your mind went blank.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, and probably will stay, the longest chapter of this whole thing so be warned.

~Kankri~

Cronus looked so surprised when he saw you, but you no doubt looked just as startled if not more. You were most certainly not expecting to see your matesprit angrily leaving your hive when you awoke. Though, you weren’t really expecting to wake up in your hive at all. You could hardly remember anything from the night before, but one thing you knew you didn’t do was make it home.

“Kan, hun, are you okay?” Cronus closed the door behind him and looked at you, concerned. You nodded as a reply, not really wanting to talk for once.

“Good, good.” He came over and gave you a protective hug. “A least one of us is okay.” He whispered.

“Cronus? What happened yesterday?” You winced at the pain just speaking that one short sentence had caused you. You truly wanted to know. You could only remember bits and pieces. You remembered Kurloz confronting you in an alley, him sewing up your lips, and leaving you there to suffer alone, but that was about all you could bring to mind. Cronus tensed and tightened his grip on you when you asked.

“Vwhat do you mean, hun?” Instead of answering with your voice, with a bit of a struggle, you pulled away from his grip and grabbed a red pen and notepad from the table near the table near your couch. Writing your words out would be a lot less painful.

_I w9uld appreciate it if you c9uld 6reifly explain t9 me what 9ccured yesterday evening. I am th9r9ughly c9nfused 9n the matter and the wh9le 9rdeal is m9stly a 6lur t9 me._

You quickly jotted it down and handed the pad to him. The expression of confusion that was on his face went away and was briefly replaced with a nervous look. He agreed to tell you anyway, though.

“Sure, chief. I guess I can tell you.” He handed the paper back to you and you both sat down on the sofa. “Vwell, last night vwhen you both vwere supposed to meet me at your hive, you never showed up. I vworried and vwent searching for you. Eventually, I found you at the end of an alley vway vwith…. Vwith your lips sewn shut. You told me Kurloz had tried to shut you up.”

_That’s right! But Kurloz wasn’t the only one,_ you thought. You quickly wrote down the names of the three others that had helped. _Latula, Damara, Meenah_ it read. You then waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. You looked up to see why and saw pinkish-purple tears forming in his eyes. You gasped and very quickly scribbled down another message.

_9h my g9sh! Cr9nus, I’m s9rry. Am I triggering y9u 6y making y9u tell me this?! If s9, please d9n’t c9ntinue. I d9n’t want y9u t9 6e triggered. I’m s9rry._

You shoved the message at him and when he read it he smiled and gave a light chuckle.

“Kankri Vantas, even vwhen he can’t talk, he still vworries about triggering someone.” Cronus laughed again and then pulled you into a hug. You grabbed the notepad from him and wrote a short message.

_Y9ur lucky I pity y9u s9 much._

You both smiled and he hugged you again. Both of you sat together on your sofa for a long while, content. Neither of you were worried about yesterday or anything for that matter. You sat happy in his arms until you heard a loud frantic knock at the door.

When you answered the door you saw Rufioh, slightly beaten up and bleeding a bit. He didn’t speak at first; probably expecting you to talk first, but you weren’t going to speak at all, if possible. You made a gesture with your hands to tell him to spit it out already, which he did.

“Kankri, dude…. I think, uh, Porrim may be in trouble. I saw her fighting Kurloz in the woods. Things didn’t look too good.” His words were fast and you widened your eyes at the terrible possibilities of what could’ve happened. Cronus showed up next to you with your notepad (you still had your pen in hand).

“You might need this, chief.” He turned his face to see who was at the door. He looked at Rufioh, surprised at his condition. “Rufioh? Vwhat happened to you man?” Rufioh didn’t respond to Cronus, he just to you writing on the pad.

_What happened? Where is she?_

“I don’t really know what happened and the last place I saw them was in the woods. I can take you there if you want.” Rufioh responded. You nodded telling him you wanted to go.

“If you are going into the vwoods, I’m going vwith you.” Cronus said as he began to follow you. The three of you walked fast as Rufioh lead you to your moirail. When you finally reached the woods, you were out of breath. All of you had to stop walking so Rufioh could get his bearings and lead you to the location of Kurloz and Porrim.

“Um, I saw them in a clearing this way, I think.” He turned and you followed, Cronus was close behind. Eventually, you broke through the vegetation into a small, dim circle cut out of the trees. The scene in front of you was borderline terrifying. There was blood just about everywhere. Purple coated spots in the grass and one of the trees was drenched in jade green. The worst part of the picture was not the blood, but the crumpled body of your moirail directly across from where you stood.

Porrim was scratched and covered in blood, both royal and peasant. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t really moving. The only way you could tell she was still alive was a very discreet rise and fall of her chest showing she was breathing, but barely. You moved for her, but were stopped by a voice booming in your head.

**_UH, UH, UH, I WOULDN’T DO THAT IF I WERE YOU._ **

“Vwhy?!” Cronus yelled at the sky before moving for her. Suddenly, Kurloz was directly in front of Porrim, but your matesprit still attempted to get to her. Kurloz widened his eyes and they began to flash, Porrim stopped breathing. 

**_BACK UP AND SHE BREATHES AGAIN._ **

“Dude! Come back! Cronus!” Rufioh called. Cronus obeyed and Kurloz allowed Porrim to breathe once more. You knew he wouldn’t actually kill her and that it was an empty threat, or, at least, you hoped you knew. Either way, you were still scared for her.

Kurloz walked forward until he was in the center of the clearing, then he locked eyes with you. When you stared back at him, frightened, you felt more scared than you even had before. He held his stare as he slowly walked closer to you.

**_I SEE SOMEONE CUT YOUR THREADS, KANKRI. I THOUGHT THAT MIGHT HAPPEN. GOOD THING I HAVE EXTRA._ **

You took a step back when he reached into his pocket and pulled a needle and thread almost identical to the one from last night. He gave you a devilish look and slowed as he got closer.

“Vwhat the _hell_ do you think you are doing?!” Cronus demanded. The way Cronus talked told you Kurloz was only putting his voice into your head.

“Yeah, Kurloz, man, what are you up to?” Rufioh asked. By the sound of his voice, you knew he was kind of scared and confused, unlike Cronus who was raging and ready to rip Kurloz’s head from his shoulders.

**_WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? I AM FIXING A PROBLEM._ **

He turned his face to Cronus and Rufioh, who were both on your let, and gave them the innocent smile he always wore around in public to cover up his truly evil intentions.

“You don’t mean-? Dude that’s just not right. You can’t do that. It is cruel.” Rufioh took a stance that made him look poised to attack. He stepped forward with his left foot and pointed an accusing finger at Kurloz. “You think it’s okay to do this to people? It isn’t! I saw you messing with Porrim’s think pan earlier, remember?! That wasn’t right! And this isn’t either! I won’t let you do it!” He was mad and you knew if his still had his brown eyes, they would be burning with rage.

“ _Vwe_ vwon’t let you!” Cronus corrected Rufioh as he walked up next to him. Kurloz frowned and looked somewhat disappointed.

**_DAMN. I WAS HOPING I WOULDN’T HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU TWO, BUT OH WELL. AT LEAST THIS WILL BE QUICK. I WILL NOT GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO FIGHT I GAVE HER, THOUGH, SO I WILL LET YOU FOREFIT THIS FUTILE EFFORT IN FIGHTING ME AND RUN AWAY NOW IF YOU WANT._ **

“Forfeit? Run avway? You’ve got to be kidding! Bring it on because vwe aren’t holding back, chief!” Cronus took a step forward and you shook you head telling him and Rufioh to flee so they would be safe; telling him you could handle Kurloz and you just wanted him to be not get hurt, but he didn’t listen. Instead he and Rufioh charged.

**_SIGH. VERY WELL, HAVE IT YOUR WAY. BUT DON’T SAY I DIDN’T GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO FLEE._ **

Before either of them had even gotten close to Kurloz, his and their eyes bean to flash. Within seconds, Rufioh collapsed to the ground. You had never seen the winged troll fall so easily in a battle. Cronus stayed standing, though. Kurloz turned his whole body to face him.

**_STUBBORN, ARE WE?_ **

Kurloz’s flashing eyes grew wider. Cronus jerked in pain and fell to his hands and knees. Kurloz’s from only deepened at this. He walked up to your matesprit and glared down at him.

**_NOW, NOW. WE CAN’T HAVE ANY OF THIS._ **

His eyes flashed faster and faster to the point where every color they turned only looked like a blur. You knew Cronus was in a lot of pain. He writher and fell flat on the ground. His milky eyes met with yours and the look on his face made you want to cry.

“I’m sorry, Kankri. I’m sorry….” His voice trailed off as his breathing seemed to stop. You wanted to run away, but your feet were frozen in place, glued to the grass beneath your shoes.

**_NOW THAT THAT HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF,_ **

Kurloz turned back to you, smiled, and lifted the needle he still held in his left hand. He started walking back to you.

**_LET’S GET BACK TO BISUNESS._ **

He swiftly moved over to where you were and put a strong hand on your shoulder, firmly gripping it, not letting you even try to get away. He pushed you back to a tree so he was able to support you on something.

**_I WILL TRY TO MAKE THIS QUICK AND HOPEFULLY THESE WILL NOT BE CUT BECAUSE IF THEY ARE, MY NEW SOLUTION WILL NEED TO BE MORE PERMANENT._ **

He stared into your eyes and you back into his. Kurloz then moved his gaze to your lips. He placed the needle above them and looked back into your eyes.

**_ANY LAST WORDS, MUTANT?_ **

You shook your head as tears threatened to come to your eyes. You didn’t want to go through the pain again.

**_REALLY? ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T HAVE_** ANYTHING ** _TO SAY TO YOUR PATHETIC MOIRAIL OR MATESPRIT? I MEAN, EVEN HE HAD THE DECANCY TO SAY SOMETHING TO YOU._**

The words felt like a kick to the stomach. He was right; Cronus had said he was sorry to you. Sorry for not being able to protect you no doubt. You needed to protect yourself. It would be letting him down if you didn’t at least try.

“It’s okay, Cronus.” You whispered it so quietly the phrase was completely a mumble and hardly audible. “I will try and protect myself.”

Kurloz looked at you and tried to interpreted what you said which gave you time to act. You thrust your knee up and into his stomach and swung the pen you had been holding into his arm. He pulled away from you and grabbed the new wound on his arm. It would not take him much time to recover from what little damage you had inflicted. You knew you couldn’t fight him, you had to flee, but you had to tell Cronus you were, and would be, okay.

Using the bloody pen and the notepad you had had in your other hand the whole time; you frantically scribbled a few words and hoped you still had enough time to get away.

Before you had even finished your simple note, your hopes were crushed by a knife to the back. You made the mistake of turning your back on Kurloz and he took advantage of that. You dropped the pen and paper and would have fallen to the ground if the highblood hadn’t grabbed you.

He turned you so you faced him. He stood there with your mutant blood on his hand and Cronus’s knife, rage staining his face. For the first time ever, he actually took the form of someone who you would call the Prince of Rage.

**_YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, VANTAS, BUT NOT NOW. NOW, YOU ARE GOING TO COME WITH ME._ **

You struggled and tried to get away, but it was no use. Kurloz stared straight into the whiteness of your eyes, his flashing faster than seemed possible. You were overtaken by the pain that filled your body. Within a second you felt nothing, but a terrible stabbing pain radiating from the bleeding wound in your lower back. Your think pan hurt as you were forced to stare into the eyes which were supposed to be white until your body went limp, you vision went black, and you were left to be held by the collar of your bloodied sweater. You were left at the mercy of a crazy high-blooded troll.


	8. Chapter 8

Blinding white was all you could see. You thought you said a few words before passing out moments ago, or at least you thought it was moments ago. You couldn’t remember.

After a few minutes of looking into nothing, the white finally began to fade into the colors around you. Now you could feel the grass beneath you as you lay on your side and you could hear the wind as well as a stress voice coming from behind you. You could also smell the forest air, and something else, something distinct that made you jump and of your fuzzy-minded state and back into reality. You smelled blood, and lots of it.

Jumping to your feet, you looked for the others amongst the bloody clearing. You saw Rufioh, the source of the voice, leaning over Porrim, trying to shake he awake.

“Come on, doll! You gotta wake up!” He said frantically. _They are both here, but where are Kankri and Kurloz?_

“Kan!” You yelled calmly as you continued to surface search the clearing. Then you saw it, most likely where most of the fragrance of blood originated from. It was a small pool of candy red with your knife stuck in the center. There was a piece of paper being held up above the blood by the knife. The paper was from Kankri’s notepad, which lay off to the side with his pen.

“KAN?!” You called a bit less calm and a bit more frantic. You ran to pick up your knife and inspect the note. It didn’t have much written on it, in fact it had nothing written on it at all, but there was a horrifying symbol which looked to be drawn in blood.

A smile with lines on the lips and a bulbous round nose.

It was all that was there, coating the entire page in royal blood. You looked to see if there was more, but there was nothing else. You were going to drop the paper, throw it away, you never wanted to see it again, but something on the page caught your eye. A few words were scribbled in panicky handwriting.

Cr9nus! I am s9 s9rry! N9w, please, d9nt w9rry a69ut me. I have t9 run. I will 6e fine, 6ut if s9mething d9es happen, just  remem6er, I p

The note stopped mid-word.

“Kan! Kankri!!” You screamed. “Kankri!!!” You kept calling his name, desperately hoping to hear a response. You voice was beginning to strain when you felt a hand fall on each shoulder. The one on the right was large and heavy, while the one on your left was small and light. When you turned, Porrim and Rufioh looked at you in concern.

“Cronus, you won’t find Kankri here. I’m sure he is long gone, with Kurloz or not.” Porrim was trying to keep her calm and spoke in a soothing tone to calm you as well, but still her voice wavered a bit. “And either way, I’m sure he is fine.”

“Yeah!” Rufioh reassured. “Kankri can handle himself when he has to.” He gave you a smile.

“Cronus, would you like to go to Kanny’s hive and see if he is there?” Porrim asked.

“No. Vwe don’t have to go there. He isn’t there. He vwill be vwhere Kurloz is. I know it.” You spoke with I frightening quiet rage.

“Woah. Okay then, dude, let’s go find him!” Rufioh tried to sound enthusiastic.

“But the question is,” Porrim wondered aloud, “how do we track them?” At that moment, you noticed the bright red hand print rubbed across a tree trunk behind her. You began to walk over to it. You had a hunch that you wanted to know was correct.

“I don’t think vwe have to.” You looked at the tree and faced the direction the handprint dragged to. Sure enough, you saw a few more red handprint-like marks moving along a path. “It seems he has left us a nice little trail to follow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for not updating for so long. I have been preoccupied with personal and family problems. I will try and update more often.


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